New grant funds more trials

Nichole Dorontich had just started school when she found a lump on her collarbone that turned out to be Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

The 25-year-old had to put her dreams of becoming a filmmaker on hold and instead turn her attention to fighting cancer.

A clinical trial gave her the option of needing only chemotherapy and no radiation. And that meant fewer side effects. She jumped at the chance.

“It’s been a struggle,” she told The Greenville News. “But it’s nice to know I don’t have to do radiation, too.”

Clinical trials are the hope of many people with cancer, but access to them may be limited by a lack of staff and funding.

Nichole and her mom, Amy Dorontich(Photo: Nichole Dorontich)

That was the case at Bon Secours St. Francis Health System’s Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Care Program, according to its director, Dr. Hal Crosswell.

But a $60,000 grant from the St. Baldrick’s Foundation will enable the hospital to expand the clinical trials it offers to these young patients.

“The main focus of this is so we can get more trials open at our center,” Crosswell said. “These are time-intensive resources that many times the clinical trials don’t support.”

Making progress

The foundation primarily provides funding for cancer research in an effort to improve outcomes for children who have the disease, he said.

“Research relies on enrolling large numbers of patients in clinical trials to ensure results are meaningful and advancements are made,” said St. Baldrick’s CEO Kathleen Ruddy. “Funding from St. Baldrick’s will ensure more kids have access to clinical trials, giving them a better chance at survival and a future with less long-term effects.”

St. Francis will use the money to support a nurse researcher for a variety of projects, including an investigation of the impacts of treatment and side effects on a patient’s ability to stay in or return to the workforce, Crosswell said.

“The majority (of these patients) go on to survive, and 60 to 80 percent will be long-term survivors,” he said. “By understanding treatments and the effects of treatments, we may find different interventions to try to get them back into the workforce sooner, or provide resources so they wouldn’t lose their jobs, or be able to protect their jobs while they need to take medical leave.”

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Dr. Hal Crosswell(Photo: HEIDI HEILBRUNN/Staff)

And by expanding the number of clinical trials St. Francis can offer, patients can stay in the community for treatment instead of traveling out of the area, he said. They will also help to advance the field “so the next generation of adolescent and young adult patients can achieve benefits we don’t know exist yet. It’s really exciting.”

The University of South Carolina and its College of Pharmacy also received grants, which are awarded based on the institution’s needs and patients, expected results, and local participation in St. Baldrick’s fundraising events.

The St. Baldrick’s Foundation awarded more than $25.7 million in 2017, and more than $232 million since 2005.

Meanwhile, St. Francis Downtown is on track to open a new inpatient unit for young people later this year so they don't have to feel awkward in pediatric cancer programs, which are typically for young children, and adult programs for much older people, Crosswell said.

That project is being funded by a $320,000 gift from Teen Cancer America and First Citizens Bank.

Happy to help

It was last May when Dorontich, a 2010 Wren High School graduate from Pendleton, noticed a small lump on the left side of her neck.

It didn’t hurt, so she didn’t think anything of it. A month later, when her ankles began to swell and the lump had grown, her mother insisted she go to the doctor. Treatment started soon afterward.

Although she’d just gotten her own apartment, she moved back in with her parents after she got sick.

“It was easier to be close to them in case anything happened,” she said.

Nichole Dorontich with her dad.(Photo: PROVIDED)

Crosswell said the study hopes to improve future outcomes in Hodgkin’s lymphoma by answering some critical questions about how best to treat this population.

“This is a Phase 3 trial that will involve hundreds of patients to answer questions about standard of care approaches,” he said. “It takes lots of time, and reimbursement for (National Cancer Institute) trials is not enough to pay for personnel.”

Dorontich, who will finish treatment by March, said she was “extremely happy” that a clinical trial was available to her and that by participating in such a study, she may not only be helping herself, but others too.

“I always wanted to help other people through my experience,” she said. “If I take part in a clinical study and it helps other people, that makes me happy.”